Grasse River Remedial Options Pilot Study.

Site History: This Site includes the General Motors Central Foundry Division, listed on the National Priorities List in 1984, as well as the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA West) and Reynolds Metals Company (ALCOA East) facilities. The ALCOA West facility has produced aluminum from alumina using the pre-baked anode method since 1903. The Reynolds Metals Company was constructed in 1958 to produce aluminum from alumina using the soderberg process. General Motors Central Foundry manufactured aluminum cylinder heads at this plant beginning in 1959. Starting in the late 1950s polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used in hydraulic fluid and electrical equipment at the three plants.

Location: Massena, New York.

• Geographic Location of Sites
• GM and Reynolds Sites
• Alcoa Site

Trustees:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• St. Regis Mohawk Tribe

Case status: The Trustees are conducting a cooperative natural resource damage assessment with Alcoa and GM to address injury to ecological, recreational fishing, and cultural services.

Overview: The Alcoa West (Grasse River plant), Alcoa East (former Reynolds Metals Company), and General Motors Foundry are located in Massena, New York. PCBs as well as metals (e.g., aluminum, fluoride, cyanide), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dioxins and furans have been released into the surrounding environment including the Grasse River, the Raquette River, the St. Lawrence River, and Turtle Cove/Turtle Creek. Land- and river-based remediation has addressed some but not all of the source conditions. Records of Decision have been issued for the St. Lawrence River at GM and Reynolds, Turtle Cove, and the Raquette River. Since the initial remediation was conducted at these sites, additional dredging and capping was performed in the St. Lawrence River adjacent to Reynolds and on-site remediation is continuing at GM. Most recently, EPA issued a Proposed Plan for the Grasse River. EPA selected Alternative 6 (nearshore dredging and backfill, main channel capping) as its preferred remedy and is accepting public comments on its preferred remedy until November 29, 2012.

The Trustees formed the St. Lawrence Environmental Trustee Council (SLETC) in 1990 to coordinate their activities resolving natural resource liability at these three sites. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe serves as the Lead Administrator for the SLETC. A Pre-assessment Screen was prepared by the SLETC in 1991. A cooperative assessment was initiated between the SLETC and the Companies in 2000. This process is an ongoing effort to assess injuries (by quantity or quality) to ecological resources such as sediment, fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. There is also a parallel effort to quantify injury to recreational fishing and tribal cultural resources.